One of the best movies to watch in the summertime is Grease, the 1978 film adaptation of the original broadway musical. Greaser Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and the beautiful and innocent Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John) fall in love one summer but have to separate once the summer ends, as Sandy must return to Australia with her parents. Danny promises that this isn’t the end of their love, though. Due to changes in her family’s plans, however, Sandy does not go to Australia and ends up enrolling at Rydell High, the very school Danny attends. Neither are aware until their first meeting, where she sees the side of Danny she never saw during their romantic summer, a bad-boy-wannabe who makes fun of her so as to keep his “cool” image with his guy friends. It’s a roller coaster ride from that point on, where each attempts to please the other by trying to conform to each other’s cliques, as well as fitting in with everyone else.

The chemistry between Travolta and Newton-John cannot be found anywhere else. I personally love Travolta’s performance in the film. Everything about him is completely transformed into Zuko-every step in his walk, every strand of his greased hair, every expression on his face. And every character in the film is perfectly cast. I am one of those people who have watched the film so many times that I can probably quote the entire thing from beginning to end, but I think anyone who watches the film, even once, will find a favorite line or two that will stay with him or her forever. Not to mention, all of the songs are fantastic, from “Summer Nights” to “We Go Together.” The story of Grease is so classic that it technically, in my opinion, became the recent Disney channel hit, High School Musical, although we can safely say that they are both very similar “modern” adaptations of Romeo and Juliet. Not only does the film portray the popular theme of forbidden love, but it also has a lot to say about being true to yourself versus doing what it takes to fit in.

Fun fact-did you know that Jeff Conaway, who plays Zuko’s best friend, Kenickie, played Danny Zuko himself in the Broadway show before the film was made? Travolta was also in the Broadway cast, playing the role of T-bird, Doody.

Watch them both in the highest grossing film of 1978!

Becker worked with Reynolds again when directing and co-writing 2002’s Buying the Cow, which was bumped to just a standard DVD release, but still poorly received.

One TV movie called 1321 Clover (which I’ve never heard of and don’t ever plan to see) and yet only five years later it was another breakout hit for Becker with Wild Hogs. The road trip comedy had a stellar cast, including Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, John Travolta and William H. Macy, with a screenplay by a writer who penned episodes for both My Name is Earl and Arrested Development. However after seeing this movie in March of 2007, I felt ashamed that at one time I thought that these guys were actually funny. Hogs was childish, it misused the actors talents and, most importantly, it was just flat-out not funny in the least bit. The only good thing to come out of Wild Hogs was that due to a sold-out showing one night, I got to check out Marc Lawrence’s Music and Lyrics, which I really enjoyed.

So I wasn’t the least bit excited for Old Dogs. For one reason because the title sounded way too similar to Wild Hogs, and another because I didn’t want to see Robin Williams humiliate himself after loving the guy so much in Worlds Greatest Dad; plus, this movie isn’t even remotely about dogs. It’s about two old guys who get stuck taking care of two seven-year-olds. Bo-ring!!! Why would I want to suffer through that when I can go check out Ninja Assassin two theaters down? Anyway, I was happy to see that critics hated this movie as well. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle had this to say about the movie: “The great thing about comedy these days is that few people are making movies like Old Dogs.” What? I agree with him about the movie being bad, but “few people are making movies like Old Dogs?” Obviously this man hasn’t been to the movies in the past couple of months.

As you know by some of my “Early Reviews” posts here on The Movie Banter, I am an avid reader of the movie website Cinema Blend. Their review of Dogs was also a scathing one, however Katey Rich said in her screening of the film that the audience was hooting with laughter throughout. Is the American audience that easy to entertain? A few crotch jokes and fart gags and the man next to you is nearly choking on the popcorn he’s trying to swallow. It’s a mystery how Disney can release a good movie like A Christmas Carol in the same month it releases this piece of trash. However I place most of the blame on the shoulders of Walt Becker and you, America. On Friday Old Dogs grossed $6.9 million; don’t let that pile grow any higher than it already is because we know that it’s being used to fund Wild Hogs 2: Bachelor Party. You don’t believe me? Go to the movie theater in early 2011. Just don’t try to eat popcorn at the same time you’re watching in case Becker makes William H. Macy wear a thong again.